overseas exchange: orion
by xcure-dollx
Summary: chapter 2 finally! i didnt liek this one... but please read and reiview!


I do not own harry potter or any of the characters created by j.k rowling.  
  
CHAPTER 2: ORION  
  
The next morning, as the students of Hogwarts piled into the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry led Ron and Hermione to their table, trying to ignore their quarrel.  
  
Ron: "I can't believe you bound us to the common room last night. We were going to discover what Hagrid was hiding! You're just as bad as my mother..."  
  
Hermione: "You know very well why I did it! You've got to grow up sometime, Ronald Weasley, and sneaking out to find out tomorrow's class assignment isn't the way to do it."  
  
Ron: "Wait...we were digging up class work?! Thanks for stopping us Hermione! I would have felt like a git- knowing class work before everyone else. What a friend!"  
  
Hermione grumbled as she sat down and waited for her copy of the Daily Prophet to fall from the sky. "That wasn't the point I was trying to make..."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes at them. Were they ever going to stop bickering?? He ignored the borage of owls fluttering into the Great Hall as he helped himself to breakfast. 'Those two should just married and get it over with,' he thought. 'They already argue like a married couple.'  
  
Hermione grabbed her copy of The Prophet before it fell into a dish of waffles and rummaged through it, tossing sections of the paper this way and that until she found what she was looking for. "Ah-hah! See? I told you. 'Rain, rain, and more rain. It seems a tropical storm is moving its way up Britain- first hitting Hogwarts then moving-'," She cut it off there and shot her eyes up at Ron and Harry who seemed to be a lot more interested in their breakfast then her fascinating discover. "Don't you see!? We're supposed to be flooded in about a day and there's NO rain. You don't even care!"  
  
"How do you know it's not raining outside, Hermione?" Harry suggested lazily.  
  
"Look at the ceiling of the Great Hall."  
  
So Harry and Ron did. Aside from the normally bright glittering stars, there didn't appear to be a cloud in the sky. Had there been it would mean there was some sort of precipitation occurring right outside the walls.  
  
"Well I wouldn't think too much of it. No use in worrying about something that's not there," at that Ron pushed his chair back and grabbed his books with a grin. "So let's get to class a little early, shall we? I'm dieing to know what's waiting there."  
  
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Hagrid beamed to the young witches and wizards approaching him just as class was about to start. Harry noticed a chorale had been set up near Hagrid's hut and cocked an eyebrow to it. So many things could be held in by a chorale. Still he could not guess what was coming. Next to Hagrid stood a tall thin middle aged man who had the look of a farmer. He wore blue jeans and thick brown boots, with a faded orange t-shirt. His skin was tan from sunlight and his hair wisped lightly in the warm breeze coming in from the east.  
  
"I'd like yuh ta meet a good 'ol friend o' mine, Ted O'Hannel," Hagrid boomed to grasp the classes attention. "He's come on Dumbledore's request- so you lot better pay yur respect to him. We don' wan' a repeat o' Ms. Flannigan and her piffer-torts." Hagrid passed the floor to Mr. O'Hannel as the class began to laugh and snicker at the memory.  
  
"Thank you Hagrid..." As soon as he spoke he immediately had the class's attention. He had an American accent. So the question became common in everyone's minds. Why would Dumbledore call someone from as far as America so come over here for a lesson in magical creatures? Something else had to be up. Harry glanced over to see Draco listening intently to Mr. O'Hannel and looking back towards the lake every now and then. He had never seen Draco so immersed in a lecture. By the time he noticed he was staring at Draco, Mr. O'Hannel had finished his speech.  
  
"There now since I've basically just bored the entire class with confusion, haha, I guess I should bring out the reason I'm here with you today. But first I must ask you all to keep still as they're brought out. They can be very skittish and we don't to tear up the nice green grass if they start to run."  
  
He turned towards Hagrid and they spoke to each other briefly. The class waited in anticipation as Mr. O'Hannel took out a tiny silver whistle and blew on it lightly. It was a clear high pitch tone than ran for a couple moments. As soon as Mr. O'Hannel took the whistle from his mouth, the ground beneath them began to vibrate as if a stampede was headed towards them. A few girls shrieked as a sudden, strong gust of wind came at them from the east and the students lifted their heads to the sky, shielding themselves from the wind.  
  
To their surprise, a small herd of winged horses began to fly into view. As they drew closer, the ground moved more violently. It felt like the earth would soon split just from the beating of their immense wings. The white cloud of horses landed about 100 feet away from the class. All of a sudden the wind stopped blowing, the ground stopped moving, and Gryffindors and Slytherins alike were excitedly asking questions all at once.  
  
Hermione squealed and began to hop slightly on the balls of her feet. "That's why it's so beautiful outside! Pegasus! It's the Pegasus that are keeping the rain from coming to Hogwarts!"  
  
"Smart girl," Mr. O' Hannel complemented with a wink. "Yes, Pegasus have a great influence on the weather, and since Dumbledore didn't want the entire Quidditch season too be stuck in rain and mud, he asked me if could lend him some of my herd."  
  
"Aye, and no 'un better to gain livestock from then Ted O'Hannel," added Hagrid. "Don't suck up Hagrid, you're too good of a friend to take that from," answered Mr. O' Hannel with a sly grin. The two of them laughed at the joke, completely unaware that the entire class had already started for the small herd of Pegasus.  
  
There were about 6 of them, all pure white with white manes. They looked to be about 4 feet taller than a regular horse would be and their full wing span was approximately 18 ft across.  
  
"I wonder if they're like unicorns..." Parvati questioned. "If they only like girls I mean."  
  
"If so, I'd stay back if I were you," sneered Pansy Parkinson with an evil grin. The whole of the Slytherin class began to laugh hysterically.  
  
"Actually, I'd stay back if I were any of you."  
  
Lavender opened her mouth to retaliate when this was heard coming from the Forbidden Forest. Everyone turned their heads to see a girl (the very girl Draco met the day before) emerge from forest with a basket in her arms. She wore the same blue jeans as the day before and a fitted gray t-shirt with a BATGIRL logo on the front. Her hair was tied back in a high pony with a pink dice hair tie, so it swayed slightly as she walked.  
  
Harry almost toppled over as Ron tried to use his shoulder as a support so he could see over the others in order to get a better look of her. Hermione rolled her eyes at him and stepped back. As soon as Harry got his balance he looked over at Draco who had the most curious look on his. He still had the same malicious smirk painted upon him, only now it looked almost excited and playful, like a child awaiting a new toy.  
  
As the girl walked through the crowd, some of the boys pushed others aside to make way for her slender frame. Some of the girls shot daggers at them as they were cast aside.  
  
"Pegasus don't usually like strangers, you see," she stated. "Unlike unicorns who'll just run away, a pegasus will most likely stomp you into the ground," she set the heavy basket down as she said this.  
  
"Ah, Anna- I see you've got the kainer root. 'Atta girl."  
  
Everyone turned their heads to see Mr. O'Hannel and Hagrid approaching the class.  
  
"Class, I'd like you to meet Anna. She came all the way here with me to help move the livestock," informed Mr. O'Hannel.  
  
"Are all British kids this quiet, Ted?" Anna asked with a confused look on her face as she attempted to smile at the group.  
  
Hagrid belted out a laugh at her at her question. "Thay'r surely ne'er this silent, lass."  
  
At that Seamus Finnigan, closely followed by Dean Thomas walked up the flustered American and took her hand, shaking it vigorously, a doofy looking smile on his face. "'Names Seamus- Seamus Finnigan. Pleasure to meet you! Anna, was it?" Anna blinked at him and before she could answer, Dean Thomas had shoved Seamus aside and introduced himself.  
  
"Dean Thomas. Me and my good friend Seamus are Gryffindors along with the rest of the clods behind us. America, huh? That's a long ways away-"  
  
"Alright, boys- you'll get yur chance to serenade later..." Hagrid said as almost knocked Seamus and Dean over to stand near the Pegasus. "Let's not forget, we 'ave a lesson for today." Anna laughed to herself and heaved the basket up onto her shoulder. She walked around the enormous horses as Hagrid spoke, feeding them each a root from the basket. "As O'Hannel mentioned 'afore, Dumbledore asked Mr. O'Hannel to lend us some Pegasus for a while to keep the rains away."  
  
Hermione immediately shot her hand into the air.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Pegasus have the power to overcome any type of inclement weather in order to fly without inconvenience," she blurted out.  
  
"Correct again, girlie," replied Ted. Anna had finished her rounds with the Pegasus, and stood next to him. "And since there was a dangerous storm on its way, I'm here with reinforcements so that you kids can have a half way decent Quidditch season. Dumbledore must really love Quidditch to ask us all the way over here."  
  
"Everyone loves Quidditch!" piped Ron.  
  
The class began to laugh and then began the lesson. They learned that for the next week they would be assisting with the care of the winged horses. The storm was indeed dangerous and long. It was suppose to hover over Hogwarts for at least two months. Hermione found this suspicious, but Ron told her to shut, seeing how she was interrupting Anna whom was giving a short lesson on the eating habits of Pegasus. Also the class (the male side) was disappointed to learn that she was only to help with the moving of the livestock and was to leave the next morning.  
  
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"So you're in Britain two days and then your shipped back to the states, huh?" Draco asked as he and Anna were walking around the lake. It was dusk and dinner time in the Great Hall and Draco had once again attempted to skip it.  
  
"Well I knew I was only going to be here to help bring over the pegasus, so it's not like I'm completely heart broken about it," she answered. He let out a long and bored sigh, "It seems rather pointless though. I mean, you've never left the states before now, right?" she nodded. "Then you should be able to stay and get the feel of it. I've been in Britain my whole life so it wouldn't mean anything to me. But I hear Americans like the tourist thing," he grinned to himself at this.  
  
"Yea, we're horrible tourists," she laughed. "But yea, I would have loved to stay. I mean look at that," she gestured towards the sun setting beyond the hills surrounding Hogwarts. "To know that you've seen the sun set in the same spot for 15 years and then seeing it in a completely different part of world and have it look so different," she blushed and caught herself. "and I'm just rambling on. I never usually go off on tangents like that. I hate it," Anna gave a sour face and they both laughed.  
  
They came to the boulder by the side of the lake and sat down upon it.  
  
"Is America that much different from Britain?" he asked.  
  
"Well, I haven't seen the muggle side of it," Draco cringed slightly, "But the wizardry part is completely different from how I live. I live in the muggle world so of course my life style is nothing like yours," she laughed once again.  
  
Draco lifted a brow to her, a challenged expression coming over his face. "How so?"  
  
"Well, take the school for example. Work. That's all the kids here do. All they know is schoolwork and it's all they do. Quidditch too but it's not a very vast world if you ask me."  
  
"A lot more interesting than the muggle world I would think, though,"  
  
"To a muggle, yes," she answered. "and also to you I guess. But for, a person who lives on the edge of both worlds, I believe I got the better deal," she hopped off the boulder and stretched, then did a cartwheel to bring some energy back in her body. "Infact to me," she said as she straightened herself backup, "I think the muggle world is a lot more fun," she laughed.  
  
Draco leapt off the boulder and stood right in front of her, his face only inches from hers. "I'd have to see it to believe it."  
  
She blinked at him and burst into laughter, stepping back a few steps to give herself room.  
  
"Do you Americans laugh at everything?" he asked, annoyed.  
  
"Oh my God, you just looked so serious! Like you were going to, I dunno, attack me or something," she let out in between fits of laughter.  
  
Before Draco could respond, they lifted their heads to hear a load of commotion coming from Hagrid's hut. Anna jumped onto the boulder to get a better look. One of the pegasus was spurting back and forth in the chorale and Hagrid and Ted we're trying to get it under control. "ANNA!" they heard Ted call. "Anna, wherever the Hell you are, get over here now!!!"  
  
Without looking back at Draco, Anna leapt from the boulder and ran as fast as she could towards the chorale. Draco ran after her, thought he had no idea why. Usually he would leave something like this to other people, but he had this sudden urge to go after her. Like he wanted to help...wanted to help her...  
  
"It's Orion!" Ted yelled to her. "I dunno what it was this time but he's gone off," he pointed towards the nearly blackened sky. Indeed, a Pegasus had broken its line attacked to one of posts and was flying back and forth like a fly, in a fit of rage. Around the enraged winged horse, a group of dark clouds was gathering, and just then rain began to fall from the sky.  
  
"Not again..." Anna said softly, worry and fear in her voice. She darted her to Ted. "I didn't bring my broomstick," she said, a look of terror upon her face.  
  
"You didn't bring it!?" he screamed at her.  
  
"I didn't think I'd need it! We weren't going to be very long!"  
  
Hagrid hustled over to them through the pouring rain, carrying an old, disheveled broomstick over his shoulder. "I got one! Confiscated it the 'ther day," he said as he handed it to Anna.  
  
She looked at it sadly. 'This stick should've been put out of its misery years ago...' she thought as she climbed onto it and kicked off, leaving Draco on the ground to watch.  
  
Anna skillfully wove in between sheets of rain as she struggled to reach Orion. He was snorting and neighing as if he was being torchered. When she had finally reached his altitude and he saw her, he headed towards her at full speed. Before she knew he was right on top of her he almost knock her off her broom. Hagrid, Ted and Draco ran right under her with worry. They could only watch and hopefully try and break her fall.  
  
'What's the Malfoy boy doing here...?' Hagrid thought as he realized he was there. He couldn't help but wonder since Malfoy rarely cared about anything. But to see him there, his eyes fixed upon the endangered girl with fear in his eyes, he knew something strange was going on.  
  
Anna repositioned herself on her broomstick and flew high into the air before Orion could turn around and have another go at her. He no longer saw he and that was perfect for her. She followed above him slowly, gradually lowering herself. When she was right on top of him, she stretched her arm out to his neck and began stroking his neck softly. At first he shrieked and threw his head back, but Anna persisted and was rhythmically stroking his neck and back. It seemed he was beginning to calm down, seeing how the rain was letting up. She jumped onto his back and began whispering into his ear. Immediately Orion began flying towards the ground, the rain stopping as he flew. When they landed on the soaked grass, Hagrid rushed over the pegasus and lifted Anna off of the giant creature.  
  
"A regular tamer, are ya?" he asked with as he set her down. She grinned as she rung out her dark hair. Ted had already tied up Orion and relocked the chorale gate.  
  
"That's one reason I was so willing to let Dumbledore borrow them," said Ted with a sigh. "Hoping Orion would get used to people."  
  
Draco walked over to Anna with a look that asked if she was alright. She smiled to him reassuringly then shot a glare over to Ted. "But Orion's a good animal!"  
  
"For maybe," he grunted. "Even I can barely get near him. He just doesn't like people.  
  
It was then that they noticed a small crowd had assembled across the grounds. Students, curious as to the sudden storm, had come outside to see what was going on. Dumbledore was among the congregation apparently and was already in front of them.  
  
"What has happened, Mr. O'Hannel?" he asked, a sort of amused tone in his voice. "Is there something wrong with one of your livestock?"  
  
"No, no sir," Ted quickly answered. "Just got spooked is all. Hagrid was trying to feed the creature and he's not too used to people, y'see. So he got frightened."  
  
"But his girl was able to calm him down I see," he said with a small smile towards Anna whom was a little worse for wear. She blinked at him and not sure as how to act, she bowed her head slightly, embarrassed.  
  
"Yes, well, Anna knows that one, Orion's his name. She's got a big heart for animals and they all seem to take well to her," explained Ted. "I was hoping by sending him here, he'd get use to others. But apparently it didn't work as well as I had hoped..."  
  
"Well then, the girl will just have to stay with us then." He said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
Ted, Anna, and Draco stared at him in disbelief. "B-b-but sir," Anna stuttered. "Wouldn't it just be easier if we took Orion back and brought you a different animal?"  
  
"Not at all. Why go back when you're already here? Too much of a hassle if you ask me," he replied. "Now then, I guess Hagrid and I should contact your parents then, shouldn't we? Come visit my office in about an hour. Everything should be straightened out by then." With that he turned around and began walking back towards the castle.  
  
"Eh- Dumbledore wait!" Ted yelled and ran after him.  
  
But all Anna could do was gape in astoundment after them. And all Draco could do was stare at Anna and wonder what was to come...  
  
I am SO sorry this took so long to write. And I am even MORE sorry that it wasn't very good at all!! It dragged out and took forever to get into! Ugh....I didn't like this chapter at all. That's what I get for not writing for over a year! I'm too rusty -.- and I still don't know whose perspective I want it to be in. its getting rather annoying to write . Please comment suggest please. As always criticism is welcome!! 


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